With just days to go until Tour de France's 'Grand Depart' in Yorkshire, firms wheel out French look

With just days to go until the Tour de France’s ‘Grand
Depart’ in Yorkshire, cycling-themed café decorations, including polka dots and
yellow bicycles, and the temporary renaming of pubs to French names, are among
business efforts to get noticed and boost sales.

Peter Sparks’ Bank View Café at Langsett, near Penistone on
the edge of the Peak District, has painted the red polka dots of the ‘King of
the Mountains’ jersey awarded to the best climber, on his café, and he hopes it
will get spotted by TV cameras and visitors.

Going dotty: Restaurants
and pubs celebrate the Tour's
opening stages

And a few miles away at Holmfirth, Sid’s café, made famous
by appearing in Last Of The Summer Wine, has a similar frontage.
Meanwhile, the Waggon and Horses in Langsett has changed its name to the
Pedalers Inn, put jerseys on display and replaced a stag’s head over the bar
with bicycle handlebars.

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All 19 pubs in Otley have changed their names to French
ones, such as Le Cygne Blanc (White Swan) and Le Taureau Noir (Black Bull).

Elsewhere, dairy co-operative First Milk’s partnership with
Team Sky cycling has won it shelf place in hundreds of retail outlets for its
high protein smoothies and porridges.

Barclays says it has seen a 40 per cent uplift in requests
from Yorkshire businesses - particularly restaurants, hotels and cafes - for
additional lending through loans, credit cards and overdrafts since October
last year.

Rebecca McNeil, head of business lending and enterprise at
Barclays, says: 'The Tour de France has presented a huge opportunity for local
businesses of all sizes and sectors across the Yorkshire region as it features
on a global stage. Our lending team has supported businesses in the run up to
the Tour… We’ve seen businesses expand premises, create new products and adapt
their businesses especially for the Tour.'

Caroline Pullich, head of business banking in Yorkshire and
the North East, says: 'The majority of business requests for finance have been
for both long and short term loans, with customers looking to use the influx of
tourists as the impetus to adapt and grow their businesses, not merely to
'cope'.'